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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2015)
A love of dance Encore Dance Studio celebrates the season with a Christmas Recital and Toy Drive on Friday, Dec. 11 T Story by MARILYN GILBAUGH The Encore Dance Recital will feature ages 2 to adult performing jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet and more on stage at the Seaside Convention Center Dec. 11. Dancers rehearse as reindeers for the Encore Dance Recital. Evelyn Hardin, left, lets out a laugh as she rehearses for the dance recital. 12 | December 10, 2015 | coastweekend.com Encore Dance Studio’s dance recital Dec. 11 encourages audience members to bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate for local children. he magic of the holiday sea- son will appear in full Friday night, Dec. 11. At 7 p.m., the Seaside Convention Center provides the backdrop as Encore Dance Stu- dio takes the stage for its ¿rst Christmas 5e- cital and Toy Drive. The event is free — yes, free — in- viting one and all to come and share in the spirit of the holiday. “Adding the toy drive seemed to ¿t the season, and it¶s op- tional,” said Encore owner and instructor Denele Sweet. “If you bring a toy, please make sure it¶s new and unwrapped.” The toys will be distributed to local children through the Clatsop County CASA and the Wishing Tree. %ut before we get to the speci¿cs of the magic set to unfold at the recital, there is, as well, a magical story behind the evolution of Encore Dance Studio itself, be¿tting this season of happy hol- iday tales. It goes like this: Once upon a time a tiny 2-year old named Denele DeCius took her ¿rst dance lesson. From that moment, all she wanted for Christ- mas (and every other day of the year) was to dance. Through her teen years, dance was front and center; her dream and her fo- cus aimed at a future in the professional dance world. Growing up in Portland, Denele was trained in the many disci- plines of dance by some of the area¶s leg- ends. Mastering tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, Hawaiian, gymnastics and ballroom dance, she was soon competing in the Paci¿c 1orthwest, California and Cana- da. She joined Ballet West and became a member of 1orthwest Tap Consort. Fast forward another few years when a dancing Denele glanced away from the stage for a moment. That was all it took. Her eyes fell on a guy she had never seen before. She, more or less, never looked away. “For me, it was love at ¿rst sight. I didn¶t know his name, I didn¶t know where he had come from or had been all of my life, but I knew, if I had my way, I would soon ¿nd out,“ said Denele. In the blink of an eye, thoughts of a big city professional dancing career gave way as zing went the strings of her heart. His soon followed. Fast forward one more time. It¶s 2- some year later, December 21. Mr. and Mrs. Chad Sweet have been married for over 2 years (the last name, at least for this story is just too ¿tting don¶t you think"). They have a son, 2-year-old Zackary, and a daughter, 17-year-old Megan. Denele Sweet remains happily smitten by her prince charming. Magic continues to weave its way through our story. Denele thought her dream of a professional dance life in a big city, a small one, or really anywhere, was history. But that was not to be. One fateful day in Seaside, she received a telephone call requesting a tap lesson for a little girl. Her response was a somewhat hesitant, “Yes, I think I could do that.” This year, Encore Dance Studio cel- ebrates its 2th anniversary of teaching dance. What began in a converted ga- rage with one tap student has seen the studio ¿ll up two locations with dancers; one in Gearhart and one in Warrenton. There are about students who come to take dance lessons, traveling from Washington State¶s Ilwaco, Chinook, Ocean Park, /ong Beach and 1aselle. In Oregon, dancers arrive from Manza- nita, 1ehalem, .nappa, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Gearhart and Astoria. Studying a multitude of dance disciplines, they are taught by 12 highly quali¿ed instructors — their resumes and class descriptions are well worth reading at Encore¶s web- site: getyoudancing.com The studio provides a performing arts preschool program at both locations, offering beginning dance plus the ABCs and 1-2-3s. School-age dancers and tum- blers can arrange school bus delivery to the dance studios from their schools or, if needed, set up rides with the Encore Shuttle. After school dance also includes minutes of supervised homework or reading assistance. Each location is a thriving hub of happy activity. So now you know the back story: the how and the why leading to Encore Dance Studio 5ecital and Toy Drive this Friday. The recital will showcase Encore¶s dancers from age 2 to what- ever-your-age young-at-hearts and all those in between. They are practicing and preparing to twirl, tip toe, balance en Pointe, hip hop, tap, and tumble to a wide variety of seasonal tunes. It¶s a guarantee that the audience will clap, cameras will click and videos will roll. “We run our recitals a little differ- ently than many others,” said Denele. First, Encore holiday recital dancers are provided only costume guidelines: colors, shoes and hair styles. The danc- ers can often create what they need from their own wardrobes. Photos by Joshua Bessex Kennedi Kemmer, middle, leaps into the air during rehearsal for the Encore Dance Recital and Toy Drive at the studio. “It¶s all about self-e[pressions within those guidelines. This recital is supposed to be fun,” Denele said. To that end, the dancers get to have fun both on stage and off. “Tradition- ally, performing dancers are backstage in dressing rooms waiting to dance,” Denele said. “That¶s how I grew up; I always wanted to see my friends danc- ing. So here, our dancers are also part of our audience.” Denele reports that the dancers, their families and friends are happy with this format. “Our main goal is to give the danc- ers, whatever their age, an e[perience onstage. And family and friends can see what the dancers have learned over the past three months,” she said. “It¶s simple, more like a school talent show. (For this recital) there are no fees to the dancers and their families, no admis- sion, no budget and no fear. Our end goal is putting together a high-energy, professional, stress-free recital.” Little ones will come on stage danc- ing barefoot and wearing Christmas pajamas, showing off their talents to “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Jazz classes will perform a “Holly 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11 Jolly Christmas” creating their own Seaside Convention Center festive black and red out¿ts. And hip-hoppers keep the “Fire Burning,” 415 First Ave., Seaside aglow in black and silver, wearing Free, with suggested donation of a new, unwrapped toy at the door high-top black hip-hop sneakers. Tappers are ready to tap to “5un, 5un 5udolph,” decked out in black le- otards, black skirts and tap shoes: rein- deer antlers provided. Sugar Plum Fair- ies take over in pink tights and black leotards, rainbow scrunchies in their hair and pink ballet shoes on their feet. Then it¶s ”guys only,” dancing to “Ice, Ice Baby,” in high-top black sneakers, and black and white attire. And dancers with a long love of dance will kick it up a notch in colorful vintage style cos- tumes — here they come. It¶s the 5ock- ettes¶ Christmas, Encore style. Get ready, get set, and dance. This recital is all wrapped around celebrat- ing the season, a love of dance and making it fun for dancers and their au- From left: Marisabel Condit, Reese Clark and Elise Seppa rehearse for the Encore Dance Recital and Toy Drive. dience too. Encore Dance Studio Christmas Recital and Toy Drive December 10, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 13
